Geothermal Energy

ENERGY PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Geothermal Energy

Presented

By

Shuaibu Musa Gezawa

Environmental Science Department

Cyprus International University

Dec 2012

CONTENTS

• Introduction• Brief history • Geothermal Energy• Nature of Geothermal Resources• Installed Capacity• Electricity generation• Geothermal Energy Production• Future Projection• Environmental Impact• Conclusion• References

introduction

•  Renewable Energy is natural energy which does not have a limited supply, Renewable energy can be used again and again and will never run out.

The Source of Renewable Energy are:

Geothermal

• The word geothermal energy comes from the Greek words geo(earth) and therme(heat).so geothermal energy is heat from the earth

The Earth has four layers

• Each layer has different

compositions, and functions.

Brief geothermal history

• The presence of volcanoes, hot springs, and other thermal phenomena must have led our ancestors to surmise that parts of the interior of the Earth were hot. However, it was

not until a period between the sixteenth and seventeenth century, when the first mines

were excavated to a few hundred meters below ground level, that man deduced, from

simple physical sensations, that the Earth's temperature increased with depth

• The first measurements by thermometer were probably performed in 1740 by De

Gensanne, in a mine near Belfort, in France. • By 1870, modern scientific methods were being used to study the thermal regime of

the Earth , but it was not until the twentieth century• The heat continually generated by the decay of the long-lived radioactive isotopes of

uranium (U238, U235), thorium (Th232) and potassium (K40), which are present in the Earth.

• In 1827 Francesco Larderel developed a system for utilizing the heat of the boric fluids in the evaporation process, rather than burning wood from the rapidly depleting forests

• The “covered lagoon” used in the first half of the 19th century in the Larderello area, Italy, to collect the hot boric waters and extract the boric acid.

• By 1904 the first attempt was being made at generating electricity from geothermal steam; again, it was to take place at Larderello

• The engine used at Larderello in 1904 in the first experiment in generating electric Energy from geothermal steam, along with its inventor, Prince Piero Ginori Conti.

Nature of Geothermal Resources

The Earth's thermal engine

• The geothermal gradient expresses the increase in temperature with depth in the Earth's crust. Down to the depths accessible by drilling with modern technology, i.e. over 10,000 m, the average geothermal gradient is about 2.5-3 °C/100 m

Utilization of Geothermal Resources• Electricity generation is the most important form of utilization of high-

temperature geothermal resources (> 150 °C). The medium-to-low temperature resources (< 150 °C) are suited to many different types of application.

Geothermal energy is produced by drilling a well into the ground where thermal activity is occuring The water is goes through a turbine engine which moved a generator Usually the water is injected back in to the ground to be supplied again

Electricity generation

• Electricity generation mainly takes place in conventional steam turbines and binary plants, depending on the characteristics of the geothermal resource.

• Conventional steam turbines require fluids at temperatures of at least 150 °C and are available with either atmospheric (back-pressure) or condensing exhausts. Atmospheric exhaust turbines are simpler and cheaper. The steam, direct from dry steam wells or, after separation, from wet wells, is passed through a turbine and exhausted to the atmosphere

Sketch of an atmospheric exhaust geothermal power-plant. The flow of geothermal fluid is indicated in red..

Space cooling• Is a feasible option where absorption machines can be adapted to geothermal

use. The absorption cycle is a process that utilizes heat instead of electricity as the energy source

• Geothermal fluids provide the thermal energy to drive these machines, although their efficiency decreases with temperatures lower than 105 °C.

•  

. Installed Geothermal Electric Capacity 2010 (% of natural production) 

. The chart below, show existing capacity of the top countries from 2005, 2010, and an estimated 2015 level.

• According to the EIA, under current policies geothermal generation is projected to increase much more quickly than total electricity demand, with an annual growth rate of 4.2 percent between 2009 and 2035.

• different ways in which geothermal energy can be used?

Geothermal energy can be used for :Electricity productionFor commercialIndustrial,Residential direct heating purposesFor efficient home heating and cooling through geothermal

heat pumps.

Advantages

The heat from the earth is in exhaustibleIt delivers heat and power 24 hours a day throughout

the year.Available all over the world with a minor land use.

Environmental impact

• Air pollution• Discharge of waste• The noise

CONCLUSION

Geothermal energy is a reliable energy source depending on the location. It is commonly used to provide a source of heating or hot water for households using ground source heart pump and also can be used as the energy source for power station in appropriate area.

REFERENCES

• Dickson, M.H. and Fanelli M., (2003). Geothermal energy: Utilization and technology,. UNESCO Publication

• Mary H. Dickson and Mario Fanelli (2004) What is Geothermal Energy? Istituto di Geoscience e Georisorse, CNR , Pisa, Italy

• Geothermal Renewable energy essential: Geothermal available at wwwiedorg OECD/IEA,2010,

• Texas Renewable energy Industrial(TREIA)• tradewindsecoenergy.com›files/geothermal• http://www.endeavorscorp.com/our_sector/green_technologies/geothermaS 

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